The US Senate revokes Trump’s veto for the first time

A two-thirds majority of the U.S. Senate on Friday annulled Donald Trump’s veto on the defense budget for next year. International news agencies report this. Earlier this week, the House of Representatives did the same. It is the first time in a Trump presidency that Congress has vetoed it.

The budget is set by the National Defense Authorization Act. In line with the Black Lives Matter protests this summer, this bill included a proposal to rename military bases after leaders from the southern United States, from the days when slavery was legal there. It was against the agonizing man of Trump, who used his veto power to block the plans. “We won two terrible world wars, and we did it from Fort Bragg,” he told Fox News this summer, referring to the US Special Forces home named after General Braxton Bragg. “Then should we drop that name now?” The president also called on Congress to eliminate budgetary lines that provide legal protection for social media companies.

‘Astonishingly reckless’

The defense budget includes an amount of $ 740 billion (about $ 607 billion). Given the popularity of the U.S. Armed Forces, the plans almost always garner bipartisan support in Washington. Plans for the next year included a three percent pay increase for all US military personnel.

Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, described Trump’s veto earlier this week as “startlingly reckless”. Her fellow Senate Republican Mitch McConnell, who called the rare veto session on New Year’s Day, said Friday, “We’ve passed this bill smoothly for 59 years. This is Congress. ”

Next Sunday, the new members of the House and Senate who were elected in the November 3 elections will be inaugurated. The majority of the House of Representatives are Democrats and will remain so in the new occupation. The majority will be decided in the Senate next Tuesday, when a second round of voting takes place in Georgia for two seats in that state.